The present invention is directed to polytetrafluoroethylene surfaced articles which contain thereon an adjuvant material. More particularly, the present invention is directed to polytetrafluoroethylene therapeutic articles for use in the oral cavity and which have thereon an adjuvant substance such as a medicant and/or flavorant.
Polytetrafluoroethylene is a material which is well known for its surface lubricity. Polytetrafluoroethylene due to its compact carbon and fluorine structure has the property whereby the surface is highly resistant to the adhesion of most substances. In fact, it is this property of polytetrafluoroethylene that has been primarily utilized in the design of various articles. When it is desired to have a surface to which other substances will not adhere, it is common to coat that surface with a layer of polytetrafluoroethylene. The use of polytetrafluoroethylene is enhanced since it can withstand high temperatures. This is the case with regard to platens, pans, rollers, and the like. The lower degree of adhesion of polytetrafluoroethylene for most substances provides an effective technique for processing materials through machinery and not having such materials adhere to parts of the machinery and to otherwise create problems in the operation of such machinery. However, just as polytetrafluoroethylene has many effective uses where it is desired that other materials not adhere to its surface, it is difficult to intentionally adhere substances to its surface.
In the design and construction of various articles for therapeutic use in the oral cavity, it is desirable to use polytetrafluoroethylene articles or polytetrafluoroethylene coated articles for this purpose. Polytetrafluoroethylene has many properties which are useful in the design and construction of the therapeutic articles. However, it is likewise desirable in many instances for such articles to have a coating of a medicant and/or a flavorant. This presents the difficulty of how to get a medicant and/or a flavorant effectively adhered to the surface of polytetrafluoroethylene. This problem is made all the more difficult when it is considered that the articles after being coated with the medicant and/or flavorant must be able to undergo subsequent processing, packaging, handling and usage without the medicant or flavorant unintentionally becoming detached from the polytetrafluoroethylene surface.
One very useful therapeutic article that can be constructed from polytetrafluoroethylene is dental floss. This can be a monofilament or a multi-filament dental floss. It has been found that a monofilament of polytetrafluoroethylene is a very effective dental floss. This can be a monofilament of polytetrafluoroethylene or a nylon, dacron, or other filament coated with polytetrafluoroethylene. A polytetrafluoroethylene monofilament dental floss or a polytetrafluoroethylene surfaced monofilament dental floss will have a thickness to width ratio of at least about 1 to 10, and preferably about 1 to 50 to about 1 to 500. The width of the monofilament will be at least 10 times the thickness, and preferably about 50 to 500 times the thickness of the polytetrafluoroethylene monofilament. A polytetrafluoroethylene dental floss having such a thickness to width ratio can be easily inserted between teeth for the removal of substances adhering to the teeth as well as for removing food particles from between the teeth. When in the form of a multi-filament floss, each strand will be of a diameter of about 0.1 to 0.001 millimeters and will consist of from about 10 to 1000 fibers. These fibers will be in a twisted arrangement. A problem is that it has not been possible to provide either a medicant or a flavorant coating on such a dental floss product. This is the case, since as discussed above, the surface of polytetrafluoroethylene has a high lubricity to which substances adhere only with difficulty.
Most of the dental floss products that are available today are multi-filament materials. These multi-filament materials include nylons such as nylon 6 and nylon 66, rayons, dacron, acetate polymers, polypropylene polymers, cotton, wool and other natural fibers. Examples of such multi-filament dental flosses are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,897,795, 3,943,949, 4,033,365, 4,414,990, 4,548,219, 4,583,564 and 4,638,823. These fibers that are usually used in producing multi-filament dental flosses have surfaces to which it is rather easy to adhere various medicants and/or flavorants. Further, the very nature of the multi-filament structure of such flosses also makes it easier to adhere a medicant and/or a flavorant. That is, the medicant and/or flavorant can be held within the interstices between the individual fibers which make up the multi-filament dental floss. The foregoing patents which have been cited to illustrate multi-filament dental flosses also disclose having various adjuvants as a part of the dental floss and techniques for adhering these various adjuvants to the multi-filament dental flosses.
Monofilament dental flosses are known. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,800,812 and 4,617,950, there are disclosed monofilament dental floss products. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,812, the dental floss is disclosed to be an elastomeric monofilament material. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,950, the fibers that are disclosed to be useful as a monofilament comprise the fibers that are conventionally used to make dental flosses. However, neither of these patents discloses a dental floss which is comprised of an effectively coated polytetrafluoroethylene monofilament. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,358 there is disclosed a polytetrafluoroethylene dental floss. However, this dental floss is not a coated monofilament floss. In addition, the dental floss that is disclosed in this patent contains a paste which is sandwiched between two pieces of polytetrafluoroethylene. The objective in this patent is to have the dentifrice that is contained within the floss flow from the floss while the floss is being used. There is no disclosure in this patent with regard to adhering a medicant, flavorant or other substance to the surface of polytetrafluoroethylene. There is also available a monofilament, polytetrafluoroethylene dental floss. However, this floss is not coated with any medicants, flavorants or related substances.
The problem of adhering a medicant, flavorant or related substance to the surface of polytetrafluoroethylene has now been solved. A composition has been found which will adhere to the surface of polytetrafluoroethylene and which will not be removed during any further processing, packaging or handling. That is, a medicant and/or flavorant will be substantially maintained on the polytetrafluoroethylene surface until the point in time that it is to be removed from the polytetrafluoroethylene surface. It is therefore now possible to provide polytetrafluoroethylene articles, or polytetrafluoroethylene surfaced articles, which have a coating of a medicant and/or a flavorant. Such articles, as previously noted, are effective for therapeutic purposes. In particular, such articles such as dental floss, tooth picks, dental tape, tongue depressors and the like can be more effectively used.